Best Blog

Jury and People's Choice Winner

پنجره التهاب

Persian

Arash Sigarchi's blog "Window of Anguish" is well-known and widely read in the Persian community. While in Iran, he was arrested several times for the content he published on his blog and was eventually sentenced to 14 years behind bars. Sigarchi received the Hellman/Hammett award in 2007 for his work in the field of journalism in Iran.

Best Use of Technology for Social Good

Jury winner

خريطة التحرش الجنسي

Arabic

Harassmap takes aim at sexual harassment in Egypt. It allows victims to report incidents of harassment and maps them by type and location. Reports can be made via the website or text message. Harassmap also sponsored a campaign to raise awareness of sexual harassment via a Twitter hashtag, displaying tweets on the website and by asking people to blog for the cause on a particular day. Harassmap uses the Ushahidi platform.

People's Choice winner

Веб-наблюдатель

Russian

After witnessing widespread voting fraud during parliamentary elections, many engaged citizens in Russia decided they would only rely on themselves when it came to observing the presidential election on March 4. One way they could do it was with the "Web Election Observer" app for iPhones and Android. The simple and easy-to-use app lets observers document any irregularities they see and record them on an interactive map. Information and laws regarding elections and observers was provided to the app's developers by the "Golos" non-governmental organization.

Best Social Activism Campaign

Jury winner

الحرية للمدونة رزان غزاوي

Arabic

The Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi was arrested on December 4, 2011 as she was on her way to Amman to attend a workshop on press freedom in the Arab world. Somewhat ironically, Razan’s last blog post before her arrest was to celebrate the release of Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer, who was held by the Syrian authorities for 37 days. She is also one of the few bloggers in Syria who writes using her real name, advocating for the rights of bloggers and activists arrested by the Syrian regime.
The Free Razan campaign was launched after her arrest calling for her release with a Facebook page that was launched on the same day of her arrest. After her release she was taken into custody again on February 16, 2012, then released three days later. This page is now dedicated to call for the release of her male colleagues at the human rights and press freedom organization SCM, who have been detained since February 16, 2012.
The campaign is an example of a number of similar campaigns that have sprung up in the past year across the Arab world calling for the release of bloggers and activists including Alaa Abdel-Fattah from Egypt and Ali Abdulemam from Bahrain and others.

People's Choice winner

আসিফ মহিউদ্দিন’এর বাংলা ব্লগ

Bengali

On October 1, 2011, news broke that blogger Asif Mohiuddin had been arrested because of his involvement in a popular student movement. Asif remained detained for the night before being released. Asif Mohiuddin’s blog received huge attention when he started writing against a particular university’s so-called “development fee,” which poor students were unable to pay. His writing inspired the students to unite and after a series of protests, the government was forced to change the decision to impose the fee.

Reporters Without Borders Award

Jury winner

আবু সুফিয়ান’এর ব্লগ

Bengali

Abu Sufian raises his voice against injustice of many kinds in the society. Currently he is focusing on the state of law and order, particularly the recent killing of the journalists Sagar and Runi. He is also promoting the “Right to Information” act, which would force the government to become more transparent. He has been vocal against the extra-judicial killings that plagued Bangladesh. While many in the mainstream media ignore the issue that costs thousands of lives, Abu risks his own life to report on the crimes in detail.

People's Choice winner

看不见的西藏

Chinese

Beijing-based blogger Woeser reports about the current situation in Tibet. Woeser, an outspoken critic of Chinese government policies in Tibet, has written about a series of recent self-immolation among monks and arrests of Tibetan intellectuals in western China.

Best Video Channel

Jury winner

哐哐哐

Chinese

Pi San is the creator of this mischievous cartoon series whose main character goes by the name Kuang Kuang. One of Pi San’s satire works has provocatively evoked China’s social ills. “Little Rabbit, Be Good,” made last year, tells the story of rabbits that suffer endless abuses under the rule of tigers who promise to “build a harmonious forest.” Rabbit babies die from drinking poisoned milk, and in another episode a reckless tiger driver kills a rabbit in a hit-and-run and boasts about his high-level police protection.

People's Choice winner

Internautismo

Spanish

Since 2007, this video channel has lived by the motto of “laughing in order to avoid crying.” Aware of the problems in the society, its creators say that it will be difficult to change the world. But then they go ahead and try it. Their method is to laugh about what needs changing and to make people forget these circumstances for a couple of minutes a day with a mixed from self-produced videos and other Internet material.

Special Topic Award Education and Culture

Jury winner

Fasokan

French

Fasokan in Mali promotes local languages and cultures on his bilingual, personal blog. He introduced village people to the Internet and basic search on the Web during an educational cruise on river Niger in Mali.

People's Choice winner

Гражданин поэт

Russian

The 2011-2012 campaign in Russia provided ample material for political satire, which due to censorship of traditional media found a home on the Internet. “Citizen and Poet” is a brilliant example. The poet Dmitry Bykow regularly reinterpreted the works of Russian and other classic poets and used the late poets' words to comment on the previous day’s events. The actor Michail Efremov presented the parodies in a series of videos. In addition to laughter, the videos also had a role in generating an interest in politics among young Runet users. The project was originally broadcast on the Internet TV station “Rain” but was pulled after five episodes, presumably because of the dicey political content. The F5.ru online platform currently holds first broadcast rights.

People's Choice winner

خالد صافي

People's Choice for Bengali

People's Choice winner

সুড়ঙ্গ – নিয়াজের ভুবন

Bengali

Dr. Niaz Mowla's blog is a good mixture of history, culture and social issues. His blog on his journey to Libya was rewarded with an excellent response on the part of the viewers. Niaz also analyzes historical events from a different angle.

People's Choice for Chinese

People's Choice winner

iGFW

Chinese

iGFW provides some of the most detailed and complete information on how to break through Internet censorship in China, as well as how normal users can effectively "share" this information. The site is a real headache for the censors.

People's Choice winner

The Chronikler

People's Choice for French

People's Choice winner

Kamer Kongossa

French

Florian Ngimbis is a young writer and blogger living in Yaoundé, Cameroon. With great wit, his blog chronicles the big and small stories in Cameroon, from presidential elections to a catastrophic date with a lady friend who happened to wear a wig during a pelting rain.

People's Choice for Indonesian

People's Choice winner

Wordsmith

Indonesian

Dhiora Bintang was born on December 26, 1989 in Sukabumi, Indonesia. His interest and passion for writing brought him numerous honors. This personal blog features him blogging on peace and pluralism issues in Indonesia.

People's Choice for Persian

People's Choice winner

نارنجی

People's Choice for Portuguese

People's Choice winner

Catraca Livre

Portuguese

Brazilians call it a Catraca livre, roughly a “free turnstile” when you don’t pay for a trip on the bus. But it’s also the name of a collective journalism project about free services and cultural activities in Sao Paulo and the surrounding area. “The greatest human adventure is the adventure of lifelong learning,” according to Catraca Livre. With its reports on what’s free and available, the site aims to “tear down walls.”

People's Choice for Russian

People's Choice winner

Здесь в… Блог Стаса Кулеша

Russian

Vicariously live the romantic and worry-free life of a world traveler. Moscow today, China tomorrow and New Zealand the day after. While many people dream of traveling the world, few take the chance to live such a life. Stas Kulesch is one of the people who made the leap. Born in Russia, he’s lived for over six years in New Zealand and keeps up a blog where he shows videos of his live on the other side of the world and shares his thoughts on dreams and making them come true.

People's Choice for Spanish

People's Choice winner

Chino Chano

Spanish

Chino Chano provides another point of view about China. In the author’s opinion, media only present part of the reality of the country. He tries not to be polarized and influenced by international interests and look for the other side of China. The normal, daily lives people in in the country live.